Well-elevator



W. L. DUNN.

WELL ELEV APPLICATION FILED ATOR.

APR- 9. 1 919.

Patented July 2 2 S H E E TS-S W. L. DUNN.

WELL ELEVATOR.

APPLICATION FILED APR.I9| 1919.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM: LINCOLN DUNN, 0F OXNARD, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO DUNN MAF'UFAC- TUBING COMPANY, OF OXNARD, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA.

WELL-ELEVATOR.

Application filed April 9,

To all whom it may concern: I Be it known that 1, WILLIAM L. DUNN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Oxnard, in the county of Ventura, State of California, have invented a new and useful Well-Elevator, of which the following is a specification.

This invention pertains to a device for handling, lowering and raising casing, sucker rods and pump tubing and the like so as to place them in the well and pull them therefrom, and an object of the invention is to provide an elevator which can be easily and quickly attached to and detached from the casing or other object to be raised or lower-ed.

With elevators of the character at present employed in the art relating to the drilling and pumping of wells it is necessary to detach the elevator bail from the grapple hook before the. elevator can be attached to the casing or other member which is to be. handled by the elevator. This improved elevator is so constructed that it may be applied to the casing, sucker rod or pump; tubing while the same is in horizontal position, without it being necessary to detach the hail from the grapple hook.

Another object of this invention is to so construct the elevator that it may be readily reversed from one casing-engaging position to another, thus enabling two different faces of the elevator to be employed. An advantage of the reversibility of the elevator lies in the fact that it enables the operator to pick up the casing, or the like, in a variety of ways, thus enablingthe operator to choose that manner of pick-up best suited to any particular case.

Another object is to so construct the elevator that the casing will be in contact at substantially its entire periphery with the elevator so as to be firmly clamped by the elevator.

Another object is to so construct the elevator that the shoulder on the casing will rest on the upper face of the elevator throughout practically the entire circumference of the casing, thus equalizing the pressure on the upper face of the elevator and avoiding liability of breaking the elevator.

Another object is to so construct the elevator that the gate will be as strong and durable as the body.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented J l 26', 1921 1919. Serial No. 288,759.

in the subjoined detailed description.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention:

F igure is a perspective view of an elevator built in accordance with the provisions of this invention, the gate being shown in closed position.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the elevator with the gate in open position.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged vertical section of the elevator on line indicated by w?m Fig. 4, a ragment of well casing being shown in position in the elevator.

Fig. 4c is aplan section 011 line indicated by W-m, Fig. 3. L F g. 5 s a perspectiveview of the eleva- LOT in position for engaging a horizontally lying casing section, a fragment of which is shown resting on a block. In this position of the elevator the gate is on the underside, the gate being shown in open position.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the elevator with the gate on the upper side in open position, a section of casing being shown in horizontal position in the elevator, which is at rest on the ground or other support.

The elevator comprises a substantially U-. shaped body 1 providedat opposite edges with gudgeons 2 which form pivots engaging the bearings 3 of a bail 4. The inner clamping face of the body 1 forms a complete half circle, the radius of the circle being of such dimension as to cause the face 5 to substantially fit the periphery of the casing section, sucker rod or pump tubing which is to be handled bythe elevator. In Figs. 3 to 6 of the drawings a fragment of easing section is indicated at 6, and in this specification when reference is made to cas ing or casing section, it is understood that said terms also include pump tubing or a sucker rod section. The axes of the'gudgeons 2 when extended pass through the center a from which the curved face 5 is constructed. The inner face ,of the body 1, beginning at shoulders b at the ends of the curved face 5 and in line with the axes of the gudgeons and extending to the outer ends of the legs 7, 8 of the U-shaped body, extend aslant outward away from one another to form a suitable opening 9 to receive a gate 10 which is provided with'ears 11 that are pivoted by a pin 12 to an em- 12 of the leg 7. The inner face lt of the gate 10 is curved to conform to the curved face 5 and the face 14 is almost a complete half circle. The ends of the gate extend inward to adjacent the shoulders 5. Thus when the gate 10 is closed the casing section 6 is engaged throughout all but a very small portion of its periphery by the elevator.

The opening 9 between the legs 7, 8 and the ears thereon herein referred to expands outwardly, because of the tapered inner faces of said legs, and the gate 10 is reduced in wardly, so as to fit the opening 9 when the gate is in closed position, and also readily allow the gate 10 to be swung open.

Latch means are provided for the gate 10 and the latch means which I at present employ are constructed as follows: The gate 10 is provided longitudinally thereof with a bolt chamber 16 opening in one end of the gate and in said bolt chamber is reciprocably mounted a latch bolt 17 which is normally pressed outwardly into latching position by a coil spring 18 in the inner end of the bolt chamber 16. The latch bolt 17 is provided with a handle 19 which extends through a slot 20 in the gate. When the gate is closed, as in Fig. 4, the bolt chamber registers with a recess 21 in the leg 8 and consequently the latch bolt 17 is adapted to engage the recess 21 to securely hold the gate 10 in closed position.

The body 1 and gate 10 are of equal thick ness so that the working faces 22, 23 of the body and gate are flush with one another, the body and gate being each provided with two working faces which are oppositely disposed. Either working face may be turned uppermost as desired, all that is necessary being to swing the body 1 in the bearings 3 to turn up one side or the other of the elevator- The body 1 may be provided at its edge between the gudgeons 2 with feet 24 formed by flanges projecting outwardly transversely to the axis of the bore of the body, said feet either in conjunction with the handle 25, or alone, if the handle be shorter serving to support the body on edge as shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings. Also a handle 25 may be provided for the body 1 and said handle may be positioned in the space between the feet 24-.- I

The invention operates as follows: In practice, a pair of the elevators is ordinarily employed for lowering and raising well casin gs, sucker rods and pump tubing. Assuming that a string of casing in a well is supported by one of a pair of elevators as in Fig. 3, with the shoulder 26 of the casing section 6 resting upon the upper faces of the body 1 and gate 10, and assuming, that said elevator is suitably supported and that the other elevator of the pair is attached to the grapple hook 27 as in Fig. 5, a section 28 of easing will be positioned with one end spaced from the ground by a block 29 or its equivalent. The second elevator of the pair will be lowered, with the gate 10 open, onto the casing adjacent the shoulder 30. Then the gate 10 will be closed, thus securely clamping the casing section in the second elevator. The grapple hook will then be raised by the usual means, not shown, employed for this purpose, thus raising the casing section 28 into vertical position. The casing section 28 will then be swung into position in axial alinement with the casing section 6 in the well and will be screwed into the coupling 31 so as to unite the sections 6 and 28.

, Then the handle 19 of the first or lower elevator supporting the casing section 6 will be operated to unlatch the gate 10 of said elevator and said gate will be swung into open position to release said elevator from the casing section 6, whereupon said elevator will be removed from said casing section. Then the upper elevator will be lowered by lowering the grapple hook so as to lower the string of casing in the well. The string of easing will be lowered until the upper elevator reaches the support, not shown, provided to receive it. Then the grapple hook will be engaged with another pipe section in the same manner as described above for engaging the casing section 28, using the elevator just set aside.

If desired, the elevator instead of engaging the casing section in the manner shown in Fig. 5, may be placed in edgewise position on the ground and the casing section 28 will then be placed in position in the body 1 as clearly shown in Fig. 6. This may, be done Without detaching the bail from the grapple hook 27. Then the gate 10 will be closed and the grapple hook raised to elevate the casingsection in the same manner as described in connection with Fig. 5.

The leg 8 is provided at its outer end with an car 32 adapted to interengage with spaced ears at the latch end of the gate 10, the space 34 between the ears thus forming a groove to receive the ear 32.

The interengaging of the cars 13, 32 of the body with the ears 11,33 respectively of the gate is quite important since by this construction the latch bolt is relieved from any downward pressure produced by the string of casin supported by the elevator, the latch bolt merely preventing opening of the gate.

1 am aware that elevators with side gates have heretofore been constructed but such elevators are equipped with double bails and consequently such elevators are unwieldy to operate and non-reversible. the single bail construction with the provision of a side-gate it is clear that the elevator can be advantageously operated as de- By combining scribed above and that the advantages are due to the new combination whereby reversibility of the pipe-clamping members 1, 10 is secured. The superiority of the described construction over prior constructions can be readily comprehendedby contrasting former methods of laying hold of and picking up the pipe with the method shown in Figs. 5 and 6 and hereinbefore described.

I claim:

1. An elevator of the character described, comprising a substantially U-shaped body having a curved inner face to interengage the periphery of a casing section, a gate pivotally connected at one end with one end of said body, means for latching the other end of the gate to the other end of said body, said gate having a curved inner face, and means upon said body for supporting the body on edge; said means comprising spaced feet, a handle being provided upon the body s between the feet.

2. A single bail elevator comprising a substantially U-shaped body having a curved inner face to interengage a casing section, a gate pivotally connected at one end with one end of said body, means for latching the gate at its other end in connection with the other end of the body, said gate and body having flush surfaces both at top and bottom for reversible application to the work,

said surfaces being broad and unobstructed, a single bail being pivotally connected with the body adjacent to its ends whereby the body and gate may be inverted; means likewise being provided upon said body for supporting the body on edge; said means comprising spaced feet, a handle being provided upon the body between the feet.

3. An elevator of the character described, comprising a substantially U-shaped body having a curved inner face to interengage the casing, said body being provided at its ends with legs terminating in ears, a gate pivotally connected at one end with certain of the ears and adapted to be swung inwardly between the ears and the legs and having a curved surface to fit the casing, there being provided latch means for securing the other end of the gate in connection with an ear at the other end of the body; there being spaced feet upon the body for supporting the body on edge, and a handle lpeing provided upon the body between the set.

Signed at Aguila, Arizona, this 28th day of March, 1919.

WILLIAM LINCOLN DUNN.

Witnesses:

T. J. KANE, J. H. Fox. 

